Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed the people at the Republic Day celebrations held at the Delhi secretariat here on Monday, where he commended the contributions and sacrifices made by corona warriors during the pandemic.
The Chief Minister said the people of Delhi and the Delhi government had collectively strengthened health infrastructure, which was why Delhi’s health system was intact even after a “severe novel coronavirus outbreak.”
“If not for COVID-19, we would have celebrated the occasion at Chhatrasal Stadium along with our families and children. I hope that this year we will be relieved of the pandemic,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
On November 11, the Chief Minister said there were 8,500 COVID-19 cases in a single day, which was the highest in any city in the world. Despite this, Delhi had 7,000 vacant dedicated COVID-19 beds in hospitals. He said, unlike in other cities, there were no patients lying in hospital campuses or on roads.
Tough time
“This was a tough phase, people lost their livelihoods, jobs. Shops, markets and factories were closed. Even the government faced a tough time because there was no tax collection. But in such a difficult time, I am happy that Delhi handled the situation in a stable manner,” he said.
“At a time when people lost their livelihood and they could not eat, the Delhi government paid their employees and arranged for money from various sources, and provided dry ration to 1 crore people every month,” he also said.
Doctors from the city, he said, led the way by taking the initiative in relation to plasma therapy. In April 2020, plasma therapy trials were started in ILBS and other Delhi government hospitals and Delhi’s first plasma bank was started on July 2. Since then, two more plasma banks — one at the LNJP hospital and the other at the GTB hospital — have been started and 4,929 people have been administered plasma therapy, he said.
“Our doctors initiated home isolation, which was started for the first time across the world, in Delhi. We decided that asymptomatic and patients with mild symptoms will be treated at their homes. Until now, around 3,12,425 people have been treated under home isolation,” he said.
“Our corona warriors did a commendable job during the pandemic. To salute their contributions, I personally went to the homes of around nine corona warriors, who lost their lives, to provide honorary assistance of ₹1 crore to their families,” he also said.
He said the Delhi government continued its subsidies on power and water bills. Out of a total of 52 lakh domestic consumers of electricity, around 38 lakh or 73% domestic consumers have received zero bills in the last billing cycle.
Similarly, he said, of the 25 lakh water consumers in Delhi, 14 lakh or 56% had received zero bills in the last billing cycle.
Health cards
Meanwhile, health cards were going to be issued for the people of Delhi this year. “You can take this health card to any government hospital. You will have a health ID, you will not be required to carry any documents or medical slips because all your health record and history will be stored in that health card,” he said.
“We will start with government health infrastructure first, including hospitals, mohalla clinics, polyclinics, dispensaries, society hospitals, and later on private hospitals will be added. Our Health Information Management System (HIMS) will be completed this year,” he also said.
